2017-18 Round 2

Waukesha, WI - John Wiedemann showed the same kind of dominance at the Deckertring Grand Prix Thursday night that his teammate, Mike Lack, exhibited at the opening round of the IndySlotCar season. JW took the pole by a full two-tenths of a second over the second fastest qualifier, Matt Hayek, and easily held off Lack in the first heat race, as well as a dominating 11 lap gap over that same Mike Lack at the finish of the 20 minute final. Trying to make up ground after a forgettable Trokan Cup 500, Wiedemann's 19th career victory vaults him into second place in the Husarsbilt Cup championship 16 points behind defending champion Mike Lack.

Lack's evening was a solid performance, but it was clear early that he was going to be fighting for first in class as Wiedemann sped away from the field. Taking the transfer spot for finishing second in his heat, the Angry Squirrel Speedsport driver suffered a lengthy 20-second pit stop that left him fighting to hold off Ev Kamikawa for the rest of the event. Kamikawa making his first final since the Stardust 500 last March was steady throughout the race, recovering from seventh place at the start to be the Hard Charger of the race, while Bill Black took the Black-Atom Racing Lucas Oil machine to fourth place.

Matt Hayek, made his season debut with a quick qualifying effort, lining up beside Wiedemann on the front row, but could never get a handle on the car in his heat race, settling for fifth on the night, just a lap ahead of Tom Spehert and two laps up on hometown hero Mike Fitzlaff. Pete Dorn and Mike Kristof off rode the caboose. It was a significant change of fortune for the the Fitz-Matador Racing drivers who finished second and third at the Mini Mile only to fall to seventh and ninth at Fitz's home track.

It's a quick turn around for the series as they return to action at the Lack Track next Thursday for the West Bend Grand Prix. The only real question is: which Angry Squirrel Speedsport driver will take the checkers? In the six runnings of the WBGP Wiedemann or Lack have won the race the last five times, with JW the defending champion.

· Matt Hayek scored the second of his three wins last season with a solid win over hometown favorite Mike Fitzlaff and eventual season champion Mike Lack.

· Mike Lack took the win at the season opener at the Trokan Cup 500 and leads the points standings, something he only did at the the very last race of last season, of course, that is the only time it matters.

· Shocking fact of the week: Mike Kristof is riding a three race streak of finals, including the last two races of 16-17.

· Some milestones at the Mini Mile: Dan Margetta went over 70,000 laps turned in competition, he leads the series all-time tally at 70,248; while Ev Kamikawa, second all-time, went over 60,000 laps. Mike Lack moved into the top five in career wins, moving ahead of Larry Rotter with 27 victories.

· After running as a mid-season race for most of its history, the DGP moves to the front of the schedule, making this the second race at the big Black Forest track in the same calendar year.

Deckertring Grand Prix PRE-EVENT QUOTES:

Dan Margetta No. 22 Team Castaway: I’m Chicago.

Dean Strom No. 4 MaD Motorsports: So am I.

Amy Butler: I’m NOT! So, the Deckertring better have the beer cold!

DECKERTRING HISTORY (12 events, 2007 - Present)

DateRace WinnerEvent Name

3/1/2007 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/13/2008 Ev Kamikawa Deckertring Grand Prix

3/5/2009 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/18/2010 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/17/2011 Mike Lack Deckertring Grand Prix

9/22/2011 Mark Walczak John Shea Memorial Deckertring Grand Prix

3/1/2012 Mike Lack Outpost Natural Foods Grand Prix

2/14/2013 John Wiedemann Deckertring Grand Prix

1/30/2014 Dan Margetta Deckertring Grand Prix

2/5/2015 Mike Fitzlaff Deckertring Grand Prix

2/4/2016 Mike Lack Deckertring Grand Prix

1/26/2017 Matt Hayek Deckertring Grand Prix

Most Wins: 4-Mark Walczak; 3-Mike Lack

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